Cardinal O’Brien of Scotland spoke out fiercely against abortion yesterday in a sermon at Edinburgh’s St Marys Cathederal. Saying that Catholic politicians who supported abortion should not recieve Holy Communion. He also stated that what was happening in Scotland was the “equivelant of two Dunblanes a day” and that abortion was an “unspeakable crime.”
Thank God for men like Cardinal O Brien! Catholics everywhere are so heartened to hear him speak out against the terrible atrocity which goes on each day against the unborn child.
The Pope recently railed against abortion in the same way on a trip to Brazil, Bishops in Equador have strongly defended the churches position on recognising the life of the Unborn and defending them against the abortion onslaught.
A thousand voices could not have the power of one Bishop of the Church, not to mention a Cardinal! All the grace a Cardinal has from God can stop this terrible blight on our little ones. We pray for Cardinal O’Brien that he may continue to fight for Christ and the angels to save our souls for Heaven.
It will not be a surprise to us to hear that the Cardinal is an Irishman from Ballycastle. Imbued, no doubt, with the Faith of the Fathers from his mothers knee.
God Bless you Cardinal O’Brien!
May the Bishops of Ireland take courage and speak out loudly against the threat of abortion currently lurking on our own shores. If politicians in Scotland should beware than so called catholic politicians here should seriously assess their position on abortion issues.
Cardinal O’Briens words:
On the National Day for Life, marking the 40-year anniversary of the Abortion Act, the country’s top Catholic leader spoke out decisively against abortion, calling it an “unspeakable crime” and the “wanton killing of innocents.”
“Forty years ago we were told that backstreet abortions were killing women and had to be decriminalised. We were told abortion would only be used in extreme cases. We were told medical scrutiny would be rigorous. We were told a pack of lies – lies and misinformation masquerading as compassion and truth,” Cardinal O’Brien said in his sermon.
“The scale of the killing is beyond our grasp. In Scotland we kill the equivalent of a classroom full of school children every day. For many women abortion has become an alternative form of birth control. The lives of the babies involved are not at risk any more than the lives of their mothers are threatened by pregnancy. Abortions to save the life of a woman are almost unheard of.”
As a society we wilfully ignore these realities.”
Cardinal O’Brien spoke directly to politicians , urging them to “have no truck with the evil trade of abortion. For those at Westminster this means finding means of overthrowing the legislation, which makes the killing possible. For those at Holyrood that means refusing to allow our health services to participate in the wanton killing of the innocent. Peace cannot be built in the shadow of the abortion rooms.”
In a special call to Catholics, Catholic politicians included, Cardinal O’Brien said “I remind them to avoid cooperating in the unspeakable crime of abortion and the barrier such cooperation erects to receiving Holy Communion.”
“As St. Paul warns us ‘whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup.’”
“I would be failing as a pastor not to highlight the gravity of this situation not just to law makers but to anyone: mother; father; boyfriend; counsellor who in any way leads a mother to abortion.” (info from Lifesite)
for BBC video go to:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/mediaselector/check/player/nol/newsid_6700000/newsid_6706500?redirect=6706535.stm&news=1&nbwm=1&bbwm=1&nbram=1&bbram=1
Full text of Sermon go to:
http://www.scmo.org/_titles/view.asp?id=515